Bowling ball cleaner and guide



m4, 1944. c. P. SHELDO 2,338,547-

BOWLING BALL CLEANER AND- GUIDE 7 Filed Oct. 21, 1942 Patented Jan. 4, 1944 BOWLING BALLIQLEANERVANDYQUIDE ,Charles P. Sheldon, Losjdngeles, Cal

Application outlier ,21, l942,'-"Serial No. 462.86%

.iciaimsI. (01.273147),

My'invention relates to a. bowling ballcleaner and has for its principal object, to provide asimple,practicaland'inexpensive device capable of being readily, applied to or removed from the runway of. a bowling alley and which willbe highly effective. in automatically wiping and-removing all dust and the .like from the. bowling balls as the latter traverse the distal ends of the ball runways. a.

A further object of .my.'invention is, to provide a device of the character referred towhich, in addition, tofiunctioning as a ball cleaner will serve as. aneflicient guide and guard to prevent balls, when carelessly thrown onto the runwaysby I the pin boys iromdropping off and rolling into the gutters or across adjacent alleys to interfere with andrstop the'play thereon- 1 Further objects of my invention are, to provide the receivingv end of the body of the cleaner and guide with a flaring flange, which functions after the manner of a funnel or hopper to more 4 effectively receive the balls when thrown onto the r runway and further, to provide theflared end of the structure Witha pad which cushions the balls and prevents battering and'bending of-the ball receiving end of the cleaner and-guide.--

A further object; of my invention is to provide a simple and effective arrangement of ball wiping and cleaning elements within the body of the structure, which elements include bristles of hair, fibre or the like and readily replaceable in the event that they become worn to such an extent as to render them unfit for service.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts that will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the ball cleaner and guard in position on the receiving end of the ball return.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged horizontal section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

ment :of my invention, .=l'l 'de'sigrifat e1 off side kick backs at the l'ower end or a'conve'n'tional' j bowling alley, ll thespacedrails composing the ball return and I2; oneof'the postsfth'at support the framelF oi the setting rack;

My improved ball disposed above. the" lgick.bacli"and thatportion 1 of the ballarunway above. said; kick; back, oom:

I prises. aninvierted channelshapedbedy I 3, pref a trimgorizfinishrf erably .zcor'nposed (inf-suitable inaterialsuch as sheet metal, papier-mjach, plywood, plastics, cast metal or thelike-approximately 142141101195 in length .and with" a cross sectional radius pf ,ap-

proximately lu -or-{li inches: The rear portion ofthis body; whichis 'practi-.-'

cally-straight, occupies --a position; above: ands parallel with the: stigaight horizontally disposedrear end portion ofrunwayl H. and the cen'- tral and forward ,plortionsiof said body r curve downward to confoif in with'that portion .of the. runway which curves downward over the forward portion of the side kiick back :=l.0-.- 1

Body 13' is half: roundin cross SeCtiOn-iWlth the lower portions ofthef w'all thereof extended down "I o as'. designated by I 4'; sand rigidly-fixed'to the titer facesoflthes'egdepend talzjstruts' .l 5,?whieh'lprovide hem-(1y; and""atf thekairie' ward for. an inch::o

ing portions; are:

' 3.1. strength. and rigidity thereto.

The forward end of body l3 terminates in an overhang l6, approximately 4 inches in length, the front edge of which curves rearwardly and downwardly to meet the lower edges of the depending side portions H.

The rear or ball receiving end of the body I0 is provided with an outwardly flared flange ll that may be from 2 to inches in length, thus forming a half round funnel for the balls as they are thrown or deposited onto the runway immediately to the rear of and below the cleaner and guide.

The lower ends of this flange and the overlying ends of struts I5 are positioned immediately behind the posts l2, so that the latterserve as buffers or fenders to prevent said lower ends from being struck by balls carelessly thrown onto the runway, and by suitable means, such as conventional hose clamps la, the lower ends of said flanges and ends of struts I5, are rigidly connected to said posts as illustrated in Fig. 2.

The inner faces of flanges I1 are covered with cushioning pads I I of leather, fabric, corrugated paper, or a combination thereof, in order to prevent the balls from hitting the metal of the flange cleaner. and guide which is 1 and becoming scarred, when said balls are thrown onto the ball return, toward the open end of the cleaner.

Further, this padded flange serves to guide the balls into the cleaner and onto the return rails and thereby preventing the balls from dropping off the runway onto the adjacent alley or gutters.

Brace rods I9 have their upper ends detachably secured to the brackets B that support the pin setting rack frame F and the lower ends of these rods are de'tachably secured'to brackets 20 mounted on the side kick back It).

To firmly support the cleaner and guide in The construction of the brushes as described proper position above th runway, rods 2l have their lower ends detachably secured to the brackets 20 and the upper ends are detachablysecured in any suitable manner to brackets- 22 that are rigidly secured to and project outwardly from the sides of body l3.

By adjustably connectingthe upper ends of rods 2 l to the sides of body I'3,' "the' latter maybe readily adjusted vertically toward or away' fri'Jm' the runway;

For the reception ofj. brushe's,' the"body I3 is formed with a pluralityof outwardly projecting transversecorrugations '23, the same extending between the upper edges of the struts forming the trim l5, such corrugations being'pr'eferably one inch irr width and one-half inch in'depth.

I prefer to provide about' twelve corrugations, T

spaced approximately three inches';' center to center.

Removably seated-in these corrugations are the backs of the brushes forming a part-'ofthe cleaner and guide and one form of brush may comprise a back 24-of flexible material such as a strip of sole leather, which'carries throughout its'length; 5 a number of tufts of bristles-'25, either hair fibre I or heavy yarn (see Figs.4 ando).

To retain the brushes in the corrugations, the

ends of the flexible backs 24 areseated in recesses 26 that are formed in body' l3, at the ends ofsaid corrugations (see Fig. 4). 1

It may be found practical to form the brushes of two or more 'Wires Z7 twisted together to form the backand which twisted Wires carry bristles 28:

as illustrated in'Fig. 5. When such construction is employed the-endsof' thetwistedwires may engagezin apertures'ZQ formediri the-body at so the ends of the corrugations, s s

effectively wipe and remove all dust and like foreign matter from the surface of the balls and the latter,in cleanedcondition, will roll by gravity to the head of forward ends of the returns.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a bowling cleaner and guide that is simple, strong and durable in construction, inexpensive of manuface ture and very eifective in performing the functions for which it is intended;

It will be understood that minor changes in the size, form and construction of the various parts of my improved bowling ball cleaner and guide may I be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from the spirit of the invention, the'scope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention: 1. The combination with a bowling alley ball return, of an inverted channel shaped member disposed above the receiving end of said ball return, which member is provided with transversely disposed corrugations and ball engaging and wiping elements removably seated in said corrugations.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 and means mounting said inverted channel shaped me'mberfor adjusting same vertically.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 1 and an' outwardly flaring flan e on the rear endof said member.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 1 with anoutwardly flaring flange on the rear end of said member and a cushioning pad on the'underface of said flange.

' CHARLES P. SHELDON. 

